Ready....Set....

If you are reading this first blog post of Okies In Okinawa, then it’s probably at our request. We are asking others, if they can, to read this post before our first face-to-face supporter meeting. This post is a great way to introduce you to the blog that will help to share some of our experiences, thoughts, testimonies, and prayer requests while we serve as missionaries in Japan. Our prayer is that this blog will be a place where you feel your heart connect to the Father and we will have a chance to stay connected with you. So we start here - at the beginning of a race - head down, legs poised, ears straining, muscles tensed. Ready To Run

Waiting for the gun to go off and for the muscle pumping, lung burning sprint to the finish line. In this case, the finish line is the moment that we cross into the country of Japan to begin a new kind of race. One that will be more of a marathon than a sprint. However, the sprint is a great way to train for the marathon, so here-we-go. Support raising, fund raising, or as Brian and I like to think of it, “Supporter” raising is usually one of the most dreaded parts of missionary preparation. There are lots of reasons for this. Asking other people for money is awkward. Scheduling and rescheduling meetings is a lot of time-consuming work. Asking other people for money is awkward. Making sure that you are truly connecting and hearing people is important and can be messy. Asking other people for money is awkward. Follow-up and appreciation are key and most be completed in a timely manner. Also….asking other people for money…well, you get it. This is exactly what I used to think. And then the Lord reminded me, as He often does, of His perspective versus mine. He took the cracked lens that I was seeing through and replaced them with the lens of truth.

The Father showed me that asking other people to be a Team Japan supporter is not an ask between you and me. We aren’t asking other people to help provide for us. We are asking God to provide for us through others.You are asking God to provide for you as you support Team Japan. And that takes all of the pressure off both of us, and puts it back squarely on the one true Provider. And He can take it. Our part is simply to obey. I’ve done a few face-to-face meetings with support raising ministries/missionaries in the past. Some meetings were great. Others were a bit awkward. In retrospect, I think going into these meetings knowing a little of what to expect would have been helpful. So without further ado, here are five things we want you to know about face-to-face meetings with either Brian or myself (or both of us :) 1. We Want To Connect With You - Please know that connecting with you is our number one priority. That means that we will NOT be doing all the talking. We want to know how you are doing and how we can be praying for you in the days ahead. Most of the time, if we are meeting face-to-face with you, we already have a relationship (and if we don’t, then hooray for getting to know you!) and making sure the you feel seen, known, and loved by us remains our top commitment now and into the future. 2. We Will Share Our Story - And our story comes with pictures! Yes, that’s right - get ready to see some cute pictures of us and our family. We have a book with some pics, old and new, that we use to help facilitate telling our story in a more directed way. Questions are appreciated and encouraged as we share! 3. We Will Give You The Honor Of An Ask - You can expect us to look you in the eye and honor you with the question of, “Would you consider joining our team?” This is the part where you might feel like there is pressure for you to respond in a certain way, but let us reassure you that there is not! Our love for you is not based on your financial support, nor do we believe that yours is for us. 4. Please Do A God Ask Before You Come - One of the greatest gifts you can give to ANY missionary or ministry raising support is for you to come to a face-to-face meeting already having given yourself over to prayer and obedience before the Lord, asking Him what He would have you to do. Sometimes a meeting will help confirm what you believe God is asking you to do, but knowing beforehand at least what direction you are feeling led is helpful. There is not one missionary out there who wouldn’t love to walk away from a meeting with a new team member coming on board at that exact moment. 5. You Are Welcome To Ask For More Time Or To Say No - That being said, its more than ok for you to ask for more time to pray about a decision, talk to a spouse, etc. or to simply say that you aren’t able to support us financially at this time!! It’s been said so much it’s blasé’ but you don’t have to give financially to be on the all-important, life-changing Prayer Team. Please believe me when I say, having the personality that I do, that I avoid anything that even feels slightly like confrontation. It’s taken a lot of personal surrender (and tears…haha) for me to come to this place where I am actually excited to put my head down and get ready to run into this new season.

We are so excited to welcome so many of you into Team Japan - your obedience and surrender in all areas of your life are already so beautiful - we literally could not and do not want to do this without you!! See you soon!